If you have found yourself researching personal finance apps, you can find something interesting among nine winning personal finance apps providing assistance from managing budgets to reducing debt to easier bill payment to streamlining the food stamp application process. There is always work on the cutting edge dreaming up new solutions to ongoing financial problems. Below, you can learn about nine winning companies and their apps as announced in the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and American Banker's EMERGE Conference in Austin, Texas in May. Announced by the Financial Solutions Lab, you can find more information here: www.finlab.cfsinnovation.com.
Companies found motivation to enter for a chance to win $250,000 from the inaugural $3 million competition. The competition is aimed at identifying solutions that help households better manage their finances on a tight budget. They were chosen from a pool of over 300 applicants from across the country. Entrants competed in presentations in New York before a group of experienced financial professionals.
“Tough problems like managing income volatility need to be addressed by all sectors –technology, nonprofits, academia, and financial services,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, Head of JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “JPMorgan Chase is committed to being a part of the solution by supporting the Financial Solutions Lab to help all consumers manage their financial lives and achieve their long-term goals.”
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The Financial Solutions Lab is a $30 million, five-year initiative managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. to identify, test and expand the availability of promising innovations that help Americans increase savings, improve credit, and build assets. 
The FinLab is launching a series of competitions to identify solutions to specific consumer financial challenges. It will provide incentives for entrepreneurs, businesses, and nonprofits to enhance financial products and services that address these challenges and improve consumers’ financial health.
Meet the Nine Winners
● Ascend Consumer Finance, Inc. (https://www.ascendloan.com) (San Francisco, CA) – Ascend reduces risk on current loans and rewards the borrower by lowering interest payments for positive financial behaviors, such as reducing debt, decreasing credit card spending and increasing savings.
● Digit (https://digit.co) (San Francisco, CA) – Digit analyzes a user’s spending habits and automatically allocates available funds from checking to savings.
● Even (https://even.me) (Oakland, CA) – Even turns the inconsistent income of hourly and part-time workers into a steady salary by saving money from above average paychecks (in a separate savings account) and boosting low paychecks automatically.
● LendStreet (https://lendstreet.com) (Sunnyvale, CA) – LendStreet is a marketplace-lending platform which helps borrowers reduce their debt and rebuild their credit, and allows investors to buy the loan at a discount.
● PayGoal by Neighborhood Trust (http://neighborhoodtrust.org) (New York, NY) – PayGoal is a workplace tool that enables financially underserved workers to improve the allocation of wages toward their principal financial goals using a simple, guided mobile experience that leverages behavioral insights.
● Prism (https://www.prismmoney.com) (Bellevue, WA) – Prism is a comprehensive bill payment and management app that helps people across the country better manage their personal finances and pay their bills from their smartphones.
● Propel (http://joinpropel.com) (Brooklyn, NY) – Propel's technology simplifies the food stamp application process by streamlining the initial enrollment form, eliminating the hassle of submitting paper documents, and providing a phone-friendly interface.
● Puddle
● SupportPay (http://supportpay.com) (Santa Clara, CA) – SupportPay is an automated child support payment platform that enables parents to share child expenses and exchange child support directly with each other.
In addition to the capital prizes, each winning team will receive the following benefits:
● National partnership opportunities to help innovators increase the reach of their products
● Access to the CFSI network and to JPMorgan Chase expertise
● Direct, ongoing mentorship from industry leaders
These nine organizations represent the next generation of consumer champions. Their winning solutions embrace consumer-friendly design, promote consumer success, build trust, and create opportunity in order to generate mutual benefit for providers and consumers. To learn more about the winners, visit http://bit.ly/1PQ662q.
Commentary: This group of apps looks like it spans a good ground that can help consumers in a variety of personal finance situations. It is great to see institutions backing competition like these that foster innovation and help new companies develop their products. I will be looking forward to hearing more from these companies, learning about their products and learning about future winners.
If you use any of these apps, let us know. We would love to hear about your experiences. If you know someone that might benefit from one of these apps share this article. Everyone appreciates a new app to try, especially if it can help them with their money.
Image Attribution:
Featured Image (up top): Sean MacEntee
Iphone App Swirl: Blake Patterson
There is a great variety of apps in this winning list. New ways to reduce debt, get lower interest loans, manage a budget or pay your bills. There is even an app to simplify the food stamp application process. That is always appreciated – making paperwork simpler!